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Romario W. (CS Global)
14 oct 2026, 16:16 CEST
Dear Vanina Cordero,
Thank you for your message, which reached us through the OCU Reclamar platform under case number 14839546, and thank you for your patience while we reviewed it.
We recognise how frustrating it is to be unable to access a gift card balance because of a single error in an email address, and We have looked carefully at what happened here.
Our records show that You first contacted our Customer Service on 17 April 2026 about a 100.00 EUR gift card code which You had attempted to add to your Booking.com Wallet, explaining that an incorrect email address had been entered when the code was redeemed. Our Customer Service asked for a copy of the gift card together with the email address to which the code had been linked, so that the matter could be reviewed internally. On 28 April 2026, You provided an image of the gift card and confirmed that no record of the redemption confirmation email had been kept. No balance from that code was added to the Wallet linked to the email address You identified as your own, and that remained the position when this claim was submitted.
It may help to explain our role in a matter of this kind. The gift card was not issued or sold by Booking.com; it is a promotional item, and the card itself states that the document is the responsibility of Chequemotiva SL, which provides its own support contact for any query relating to it. What Booking.com provides is the Platform on which a validly redeemed code becomes Travel Credits held in the Wallet of a verified Booking.com Account. How that works is set out in our Terms. As per Clause A14.3: Where to find your Rewards. If and when you receive any Rewards, you will be able to manage and spend them from the Wallet, which is automatically created when you create a verified Account. You'll find the Wallet in your Account menu, and you must be signed in to your Account to access it.
Travel Credits therefore exist only inside the Wallet of an Account, and they follow the email address used at the moment the code is redeemed. We have checked the address You identified, and there is no Booking.com Account registered to it. There is accordingly no Wallet holding the 100.00 EUR, and no balance that We are able to locate, release, or move across to your own Account.
On the details entered at the point of redemption, Clause A14.23 sets out your obligations in relation to the Wallet: You're responsible for making sure that all information is (and stays) correct, complete and up to date.
The instructions printed on the card asked You to enter the code using the email address of your current Booking.com account. The address submitted was not that address, and there was nothing to indicate to us at the time that it had been entered in error. Clause A19.3 addresses the consequences of an error of this kind directly: We are not liable for: any losses or damages which were not reasonably foreseeable when you made your booking or otherwise entered into these Terms; or any event which was reasonably beyond our control, mistake in an email address, phone number or credit card number (unless it's our fault).
The error here lay in the email address submitted at redemption, and nothing before us indicates that it was caused by Booking.com. On the information available, We do not consider Booking.com responsible for the code showing as redeemed.
Because the card was issued by Chequemotiva SL and the code was generated on the issuer's own system, the cancellation and reissue of that code is a matter for the issuer and not for Booking.com, and Booking.com is not in a position to invalidate, reactivate, or re-point a code it did not issue. The card remains valid until 1 July 2027, and the support address printed on the card is the correct route for a request to have it reissued. If the issuer reissues the code, it can then be redeemed against the Account registered to the email address You have identified as your own, and the balance will be available in the Wallet of that Account in the ordinary way.
Accordingly, as no balance can be traced to any Booking.com Account and the error in the email address submitted at redemption was not caused by Booking.com, We deny liability and reject the claim, including any claimed amount.
Kind regards,
Romario W.
CS Legal Support Advisor
Booking.com Customer Service Center (Netherlands) B.V.
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